Fig 1a - This is a new look at Ronald and McDonald's.
After doing antenarrative studies on the Office Supply Company, Disney,
Nike, and Enron, I decided to put a new face on McDonald's, McDonaldland,
and McDonaldization. Fig 1 shows some of the restylizations of the clown
prince of McD's. Speedee was sketched by Richard McDonald and put atop
the Golden Arches. Bozo and 1st Ronald were played by Willard Scott
in D.C. franchises & local TV spots. In 1966 Scott was too fat (he
says) when Poco the clown restylized 2nd Ronald.3rd Ronald looses the
Disco look of the 1970s. 4th Ronald
regresses in age to be European version (not seen in US). Then in 1999-2002
Klaspy-Csupo (producers of The Simpsons, Rugrants & Wild Thornbirds)
give Ronald his 5th make-over (see Table
2 - plots). in 1999 there was a Camp Ronald strategy retreat, and
it was decided to replace the Ronald in the 1st 3 films with a much
thinner model in the last 3 films. The old Ronald is plumper, more lethargic,
and more easy-going, like a Mr. Rogers. The new Ronald is thinner, and
more hyper, like a Jim Carey. The two clowns do their live acts at the
beginning and the ending segment, sandwiching the animated portion of
each film
Ronald is not popular in every country. His statues have mostly been
removed in UK; Ronald has been restylized, and his gender changed in
Japan; Ronald is wearing a bikini and high heels in the Japanese reincarnation.
 
 
Figure 1b: Ronald's Sex Change in Japan
Sources: http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46494
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1576805,00.html
and http://www.pressetext.at/pte.mc?pte=050923024
http://www.lowculture.com/archives/shallow/
Ronald McDonald as you've never seen her before.
In the Japanese gender-changed Ronald,(or do we call her 'Ronnie') sports
red spiked heels, has new hair color: shoulder-length straight auburn;
she wears a flowing yellow dress or a red and white striped bikini,
and thigh-length leggings.Ronnie
looks like Milla Jovovich (a Ronald McDonald-haired outer-space
goddess in movie, The Fifth Element). What does it mean? Ronald
(Ronnie) localizes to fit the contemporary consumer tastes of each nation:
Japan consumers prefer Ronald in a bikini and heels. Its another example
of clown-contemporalization and metamorphosis.
Did you know that Speedee, the clown that Ray Kroc took off the arches
after he bought out the McDoanld brothers, has been returned to adorn
the Super Wal-Mart McD's (not all of theme, but many). See A
Brief History of Ronald and his Battle with Speedee the Clown by David
Boje 2004..
April 19th Jim Cantalupo died, and Ronald becomes restylized in the
famous 6th Ronald (the tear-eye ad ran Apr 21st in ads in major dailies).
When CEO Jim Cantalupo died (April 19 2004), it was Ronald who gave emotional
expression to the corporate grief, in full page ads appearing in major
dailies around the world.
[i]
My colleagues and I have begun our own Bakhtin Circle:(1) we think
that Bakhtin's theories of restylization, carnival, chronotope, and
most of all, the metamorphoric cycle of transformation and renewal through
the use of a quite Grotesque Humor has been appropriated by the McDonald's
corporation; (2) we think that as Ronald *and all the other characters
of McDoanldland) get restylized, then so does the corporation -->
renew iitself for each new generation of consumers (as in Fig. 1 or
the 6 main restylizations of Ronald! For more, see Table
1: Where did Ronald, Grimace, Hamburglar, etc. come from?
Figure 1c: Left is Ronald (p. 27) 2004 Report; right is Ronald on cover of 2001 Report
Source: Left is 2004 McDonald's Annual Report (page 27); Right is 2001 McDonald's Annual Report (cover)
Figure 1d: A Happy Young Couple in the 2004 McDonald's Annual Report (p. 3)
Source: 2004 McDonald's Annual Report (p. 3) online
Figure 1e: Stylistic Image of Healthy People in 2007 McDonald's Annual Report
Source: 2007 McDonald's Annual Report See p. 67
Figure 1f: Stylistic Image - Ronald Hails Parents (photo by D. Boje).
In one particular McDonald's flyer, parents are being hailed, recruited to play a dramaturgical role. Ronald McDonald uses everyday speech gChoice and change your kids will loveh and the image of Ronald is stylized as a visual hail, the text reading:
"This leaflet tells you about the nutritional content of the McDonald's Happy Meal, which gives your kids a choice of fun and tasty food and drinks. It also provides you with some useful information about your kids' diets."
The rest of the text invites parents to study nutritional information useful for their kidsf diets. More scientific styled speech, such as lists of cholesterol, allergy information, etc. ascribed to institutional authorities is contained in the brochure.
|
Figure 2 Grimace Four Restylizations
Fig 2 - shows the four restylizations of Grimace. Grimace
is the Fool (part of the Bakhtin Rogue-Clown-Fool chronotope. A chronotope
is deined by Bakhtin (1971 Dialogic Imagination) as the relativity
of time-space; in practical terms Grimace is relatively restylized over
his history, and in different places.
Time, as it were, thickens, takes on flesh, becomes artistically
visible; likewise space becomes changed and responsive to its movements
of time, plot and history (Bakthin, 1981: 84).
“The rogue, the clown and the fool create around themselves
their own little world, their own chronotope” (Bakhtin, 1981:159).
In the history of realism, all forms of the novel linked to a transformation
of the rogue, the clown, or the fool have enormous significance, but
this significance has not been grasped in its essence (p. 165).
My thesis is that the transformation of McDonald’s is linked
to the three masks that are appropriated by McDonald’s from the
“deep recesses [of] pre-class folklore” (Bakhtin, 1981:
165). The rogue’s satiric destruction, fool’s premodern
collective sensibility, and the clown’s merry deception are a
powerful combination, which sometimes escapes corporate (double-narration)
control. There are nine chronotopes, and Ronald works them all, but
is most rooted in the (# 6) three masks of rogue, clown, and fool. Table
3 gives definitions and examples of the nine chronotopes from the seven
animated films starring Ronald (films reviewed in last section). Read
more on 9 chronotopes of McDonaldland...
Figure 3 - Comparison of Seymore and 1st Grimace
("Evil Grimace")
1st Grimace was the plagarism of the Puf n' Stuf character
(produced by H.R. Krofft): The 1971 depiction of “Evil Grimace”
with six arms and a furry purple body resembles the Puf n’ Stuf
character Seymore the spider (who has orange fur). Puf n' Stuf was the
most popular Saturday Morning cartoon series of its day (it aired 6
September 1969 - 4 September 1971). An ad agency (Needham Harper &
Steers) hired former H.R. Krofft animators to create characters and
theme for a ‘McDonaldland’ series. Sid and Marty Krofft,
the series producers, sued McDonald’s (charging that the company
and its advertising agency. 1st Grimace (i.e. Evil Grimace) was a milkshake
theif, more the Rogue part of his chronotope than the Fool. See
comparison of Puf N Stuf with Mayor McCheese; parody or plagarism?
You Decide. See More See
Table 1 - full comparison of all characters.
2nd, "Evil Grimace" morphed into just "Grimace"
and has two arms and no longer does the kind of Rogue-style that he
once had. You can click
here to see a 1974 commercial with 2-armed Grimace that still possesses
more of the Rogue than Fool chronotope (note: a very young Jodie Foster
appears) [for DLS and other video formats click
here). By the 1980s Grimace is a purple flurry fluttter of cosmic
fear who says "D'Ah" and is now the Fool part of Bakhtin's
chronotope (see parody
of Evil Grimace's loss or arms; source).
3rd Grimace - Grimace is recrafted by the Klasky-Csupo
studio animators to be less furry, and lots more interesting as a character.
In "Legend of Grimace Island" film, Grimace finds
courage and heads to Grimace Island (Table
2 - plots). Grimace now has the ability to do miracles; in each
of the six films Grimace performs at least one chaos-creating evnet,
that enacts his god-like power to control chaos and save the gang from
their peril.
4th Grimace - Grimace appears in a 2002 commercial with
Donald Trump. In Fig 2 Donald hugs the Grimace (for more on the commercial
see Walker, 2002).
5th Grimace ?? - The big question is with McD's ditching
the Supersize options and even slimming down the Ronald in 1999, and
making him a fitness coach in the new "Get Moving With roanld"
live shows, will the Grimace be put on a no-carb, no-milkshake diet?
Left is French Ronald Shoes 
Right is Ronald's Newest Show |
Figure 4: The Restylizations of Hamburglar
1st Hamburglar - looks a little too much like the garish
Witcheepoo of Puf n’ Stuf (both have witch faces, and wear witch’s
cap and cape). Click
here for comparison; you decide? After the lawsuit was settled,
and McD's obtained the rights, toys were sold like 1st Hamburglar. This
is the Rogue part of Bakhtin's chronotope (he fibs and steals hamburgers).
Note that 1st Hamburglar is about 70 years old, See
Table 1)
2nd Hamburglar - was restylized from 70 year old man with
grey hair to a 8 year old (there abouts) who in the 1989 Borough's film,
"McTreasure
Island"(released 1990) did not have the gift of speech; he
could only grunt and point.
3rd Hamburglar - 1999-2002 we see Hamburglar as we have
never seen him before; he is restylized by Klasky-Csupo animators (see
Table
2 films) to be about 14 years old, has cool cun glasses instead
of a mask, jean jacket with emblazoned "M" instead of a cape.
Most important, he has the gift of speech and wise cracks Ronald in
all six films. Here Hamburglar is revitalized as more of the Rogue part
of the chronotope |
| 
Figure 5 - Restylizations of Birdie 1980-2002
What about Birdie? Fig 5 shows the transformation
of Birdie. From 1971 to 1980 there was no female in McDonaldland. In
1980, Birdie, became a heroine. She is the most intelligent of all the
haracters; reads books, flies planes, and knows lots of science. In
the 1908 version, Birdie is a grotesque bird/human character who flies
and sings. Byt the time Klasky-Csupo restylize her (see
Table 2), Birdie's beak is tweaked, she gets a girl's legs and neck,
plus all those Barbie-doll-type accessories. |
Figure 6- Recent Ronalds are more Spiritual
and Charistmatic Leaders
Fig 6 has four panels (A thru D).
Panel A - Klasky-Cuspo 1999-2002 restylization of Ronald
into not jsut a leader, but a charismatic leader, who performs two or
three transmutation miracles in each of the six films. In Panel A, ronald
has turned a siny ship in a bottle into the McYacht. (Table
2 - plots).
Paenel B - Fast forward to 2004 and you see photos all
over the web of Ronald on tour with Bab Greene (Opraph's fitness trainer)
and other coaches, such as to Ronald's right, TV fitness expert Donna
Richardson, and former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado. (McD's
Press Release 05/06/2004). It is all part of McDonald's 2004 Balanced
Lifestyles Global Strategy (Kapica,
2004). Note: this is a much thinner Ronald than the one who appeared
in the 1st 3 of the 6 Klasky-Cuspo films.
Panel
C - one of the McDonaldland
Games images that show Ronald floating above McD's on a cloud. To
me, the image is a corporate attempt to give Ronald a more charismatic
and spiritual image. Ronald sits god-like on a cloud above the McDonaldland
netherworld and a McDonald's outlet. I contend that McD's cultivates
an image of Golden Arches as church0like and Ronald as just like you
know who. In this next imageone of my students took a photo of a Ronald
statue in a McDoanld's in Thailland (Feb, 2005); Ronald has a very spiritual
look.
 
Figure 7 - Ronald appears to be praying - The lady praying with him is Danae Hudson (she was kind enough to send me the photo)
As a backlash to McDonald's corporations, increasing portrayl of Roanld
as a Christ-like figure in statutes, and ads (e.g. 1999 Spain Christmas
ad with Hambburglar in Manger, the transmutation miracles performed in
all six of the Klasky-Csupo McDoandlland films between 1998 & 2002) --
it is little wonder that there is artistic work critical of the corporate
spirituality advertising campaigns (following is what has been on WWW
last few years): McSupper;
toon
McSupper; UnHoly
McTrinity (Jake and Dinos Chapman’s Unholy McTrinity Sheriff
Big Mac – Ronald – Hamburglar UK art exhibit); Toon
McCrucifiction; Krishna
sacrifices Ronald. Merely showing these images at a intnational business
conference, led to a petition by evangleical academics for my dismissal
as conference president (PRESS
RELEASE).
Panel D - this is Ronald's 2004 new show: "Get Moving with Ronald."
McD’s is bringing together Ronald, the second most recognizable
character in the world (after Jesus Christ), and local Olympic athletes
to help children adopt good physically active fitness and fast food habits
early in their lives. With obesity reaching epidemic status in the U.S.
(& other McD's nations) Ronald is a brand new kind of leader, a leader
of corporate transformation: McD's is becoming a place to find salads
(everywhere in the world), McVeggie burgers (only in Us, NY, Canada, UK,
Netherlands, & India). . Ronald has become not only a charismatic
and fitness leader; He is more than figurehead for Ronald McDonald House
(& “Ambassador to Children” everywhere); Ronald was made
the “Chief Happiness Officer,” and in 2004 the“Ambassador
for an Active Lifestyle.” Ronald supplants “real” flesh
and blood leaders by becoming a virtual leader. Ronald in real life who
is invincible (cloned into 250 Ronalds who do live shows & are trained
at a clown college), and also omnipresent and invincible in his Klasky-Csupo
films, with charismatic netherworld powers.
Ronald also speaks back to power, and narrates a rebel
voice, one that I see as linked to what Bakhtin (1940/1968) studied
in his dissertation on François Rabelais’s (1532) novels.
Ronald the Rebel Voiced Leader - In the
3rd film (see
Table 2 listing), “Visitors
from Outer Space” Hamburglar’s call to adventure is
received on Ronald’s wrist-phone (done with a parody of 1950s
Dick Tracy, now on the arm of the 21st century clown prince); in this
scene Ronald also pokes fun at the corporation’s dated management
style. In my view, this is an example of corporate-uncrowning. The scene
is irreverent to McDonald’s Corporation. For example, in the human
clown (part I) act of Visitors from Outer Space, Ronald does a parody
of how McDonald’s has an operation action plan for every conceivable
contingency, even ET encounters. Ronald says, “Well of course
I believe in aliens; that’s why I have the MAAP, the McDonaldland
Alien Action Plan; M – A – A – P” (he is holding
a small red book, with a large “M” emblazoned on it; just
as a magic screen descends from above). On the projector screen are
flashing images of 1950s Sci Fi flicks; and in the background, Ronald’s
shadow, his new image over it falls over the older images, indicating
his double-body (out with the old, in with the new Ronald). The visual
images reinforce the spoken parody; that in debasing the McDonald’s
corporate action plans, and in the visual oldness, juxtaposed with the
new Ronald-image, there is corporate renewal as well as clown contemporaneity
going on here. See
excerpt form Transcript (contact me to get entire transcripts of
all six films).
In short Ronald is a spiritual, charismatic, and transformationa
lleaderwith two didactic-moral stylizations: (1) as spiritual leader
and miracle-worker in the Klasky-Csupo
film series and (2) in his newest show, leader in the nation’s
latest war, on obesity. More
on thesis that Ronald is "virtual" leader... |
Figure 8- Colonel Sanders becomes Virtual Leader Construct
Boje (2004e, f) defines something call the Virtual Leader
Construct (VLC), which is prevalent in Fast Food and other industry.
For example, in Fig 8, there are three VLCs for Colonel
Sanders.
At left (fig 8) the "real" Colonel after selling
out his KFC chain to investors is hired back to play himself; he logs
250,000 miles a year and makes hundreds of TV appearances. I do not
think it is unusal for a retired leader to continue to antenarrate
themselves after retirement (for
advanced level Double Helix Antenarrative Theory, go here).
Center (Fig 8) is an image of look-alike Colonel's hired
to be the "virtual" Colonel after his death. It was not a
very popular means of conveying the VLC of the Colonel to consumers
or employees. Most if not all of the Colonel's leaderly virtues (his
obsession about cleanliness and his recipes) were no longer represented.Imitating
the Colonel is still popular as an event at state fairs, but it is no
longer a VLC.
Right (Fig 8), the Colonel becomes a virtualized animated
character. This is more contemporary, and appeals to consumers. However,
all the leaderly virtues are lost on younger audiences who do not remember
the "real" Colonel Sanders.
VLC extends Bakhtin’s theories of ‘double
narration,’ and‘carnivalesque clown.’ Besides the
Colonel and Ronald, Dave Thomas of Wendy's is a good example of a VLC.
Dave Thomas, after selling his chain, was hired back to play himself
as a leader, even though he was no longer still doing day-to-day, hands
on leadership of Wendy's. Unlike KFC or McD's, Dave Thomas did not morph
into an animatid VLC after he died (but who knows this could still happen;
give it some time). |
Figure 9: The VLCs that failed at Burger King
At left is a photo of co-founding CEO, James W. McLamore;
Next is photo of a Burger King (live) clown looking a lot like King
Arthur. In 1979 Burger King (BK) tried to imitate McDonaldland characters.
And to the right is some of the attemts at a more virtual VLC (an
animation & a doll). BK abandoned its attmept to become a McDonaldland;
perhaps they need to try again. Compare the BK's
Burger King Kingdom images to those in figures 2 and
4 and see if you can sort out the imitation of McD's McDonaldlandI.
Yet, not every VLC is a success. For example, BK was
co-founded by James W. McLamore. But if you look through the BK
web site, you could hardly figure out his founding story. The
main, official BK
history page, just says:
"What started with one restaurant in Miami in
1954 has grown to more than 11,220 restaurants in 60 countries worldwide.
And we're still growing. We'd love to share with you our past, our
present and where we're heading in the future"; does not mention
James at all.
Being thorough, you will find a second history page,
buried under the corporate
web site page that says only:
In 1954, James McLamore and David Edgerton opened
their first BURGER KING® restaurant in Miami, Florida. These visionaries
had extensive experience in restaurant business and a shared belief
in the guiding principle of offering reasonably priced quality food,
served quickly, in attractive, clean surroundings. Our Vision today
honors their original vision.
If you read his autobiography (McLamore,
1998) you know that, he too stayed on after selling the company,
but the new owners, Pillsbury (in 1967) did not build his legacy as
a virtual leader, in the way that Wendy's, McD's, and KFC have done.
McLamore tells a rags-to-$9-billion tale (Horatio Alger heroic narrative),
but unlike Ray Kroc, Dave Thomas, and Colonel Sanders, the VLC does
not become immortalized by the corporate machine he co-founded. Thomas
died in 1996 at age 70. What with all the turn
over of CEOs at BK, maybe a VLC is sorely needed. Daniel Gross
(MSN, 2004)
gives a good run down of what's lacking in BK leadership. Brad Blum
will be 9th Bk CEO in 15 years (none lasted more than 4 yrs, except
for McLamore).
|
| 
Fig 10 - That is not Ronald, "C'est
Moi" "Ante-Ronald"; how can one understand the many
leadership qualities of Ronald (s) without becoming the "Ante-Ronald"
?
o 1st PLAY Click
Here PRESS RELEASE - McD's goes to Baghdad Play IABD April
2004
2nd PLAY - Regenerating McDonaldland (much milder play) o
Click here for Pictures from the June 2004 OBTC play
o Click here for
Pictures from the July 2004 SCOS play
|
Here are journal articles, proceedings and book chapters,
two plays, and quite a few conference presentations.. Some have links
to PDF files stored on the web
-
Barge, Kevin J. 2002. Antenarrative and managerial
practice. Working Paper, University of Georgia. Accepted for
publication in revised form at Communication Studies. (should
be out by now).
-
Baskin, Ken 2004. Storytelling and the Complex
Epistemology of Organizations. Chapter for Managing the Complex,
Vol. IDRAFT July 1. Contact
author .
- Boje, D. M. 2004a. Grotesque
Method. Published in Proceedings (edited by Henri Savall, marc
Bonnet & Michel Peron) of First International Co-sponsored Conference,
Research methods Division, Academy of Management: Crossing Frontiers
in Quantitative and Qualitative Research methods. Vol. II pp. 1085-1114.
Lyon France, Presentation March 19 2004; paper written February 1,
2004; revised Mar 11.
-
-
-
-
Boje, D. M. 2004e. A Virtual Leader Construct Theory:
From Colonel Sanders to Ronald McDonald. Under review since 26 July
2004.
-
Boje, D. M. 2004f. The Leadership of Ronald McDonald:
Double Narration and Stylistic Lines of Transformation. Under review
since 26 July 2004.
- Boje, D. M. 2004g Deconstructing
Carnival New Orleans. A presentation for the Deconstructing the
Big Easy Symposium submitted to the Critical Management Studies and
Research Methods divisions for the Academy of Management meeting,
August 6-11, 2004 in New Orleans.
- Boje, D. M. 2004h. Double
Helix Antenarrative Model. Preliminary propositions and model
of double spiral of antenarratives; told with examples form the fast
food industry.
- Boje, D. M. 2004i. Inside
the Rabelaisian Sileni Box. Page Proofs for Journal of Management
Inquiry article. Scheduled for Vol. 16.
-
Boje, David M. & Yue Cai. 2004. McDonald’s:
Grotesque Method and the Metamorphosis of the three Spheres: McDonald’s,
McDonaldland, and McDonaldization. The Metamorphosis Journal. Vol
3 (1): 15-33. See
Pre-publication Draft.
-
Boje, D. M. & Cai, Y.; Duvan A., Keller, A.;
McGrane, K.;Valencia, B.; Schweig, V; & Watanaratkul, J. 2004.
A Discursive Systems Theory: Bakhtinian analysis of McDonald’s.
-
Boje, D. M.; Cai, Y.; Thomas, E. 2004a. Play: Regenerating
McDonaldland: A Play of Grotesque Humor. Presented at four conferences
on these dates. (1) IABD in San Antonio Texas on Mar 26 2004; (2)
Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference in Redlands CA, rehearsal
June 23, play performed June 24; (3) Standing Conference on Organizational
Symbolism, rehearsal July 8, & performed July 9, 2004; (4) Academy
of Management, Aesthetics special interest group, play performed
at Fringe Café Mon Aug 9 2004.
-
Boje, D. M.; Cai, Y.; Thomas, E. 2004b. book chapter:
Regenerating McDonaldland: A Play of Grotesque Humor. Play accepted
as part of a book chapter, Humour, Organisation and Work. (Eds)
Robert Westwood (University of Queensland Business School) &Carl
Rhodes (University of Technology Sydney). Book project is under
review.
-
-
Boje, D. M.; Driver, M.; & Cai, Y. 2004b. McDonaldland
chronicles: A strategic theory of humor. Under review since January
26 2004.
-
- Boje, David M. & Carl Rhodes. 2005. The Leadership of Ronald
McDonald: Double Narration and Stylistic Lines of Transformation.
Accepted for publication in Leadership Quarterly journal on April
9, 2005 See
Pre-publication Draft
- Boje, David M. & Carl Rhodes. 2005. The Virtual Leader Construct:
The Mass Mediatization and Simulation of Transformational Leadership,
Accepted for publication in Leadership Journal on June 2, 2005 See
Pre-publication Draft
- Boje, David M.; Esther Enríquez; M. Teresa González;
& Eduardo Macías. 2005. Architectonics of McDonald’s
Cohabitation with Wal-Mart: An Exploratory study of Ethnocentricity.
Accepted for publication in Journal, Critical Perspectives on International
Business. See
Pre-publication Draft.
- Dalcher, D. & Drevin, L. 2003. Learning from information systems
failures by using narrative and antenarrative methods. Proceedings
of SAICSIT, pages 137-142. Available on line at http://portal.acm.org/ft_gateway
- McLamore,James W. (1998). The Burger King:
Jim McLamore and the Building of an Empire. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill,
286 p.). McLamore, James W., 1926-1996
- Vickers, Margaret H. (2002). Illness, work and organization: Postmodernism
and antenarratives for the reinstatement of voice. Working paper,
Unviersity of Western Sydney. Accepted for publication at Tamara:
Journal of Critical Postmodern Organizational Science.
- Walker, Rob (Oct 14 2002). Would You Buy
a Burger From This Man? Donald Trump's strange move to McDonaldland.
Image and story of Ronald hugging the Grimace is from http://slate.msn.com/id/2072206
For more references and books see What
is Antenarrative?
[i]
The ad was created by Publicis
Groupe's Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago (McDonald’s chief publicist).
On April 21st eight major US news outlets, including the Wall Street
Journal, the New York Times and USA Today carried the ad. See photo
from Apr 21 2004 Ad Age On Line - http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=40325
Figure 11 - The Main Characters
|
| http://scmoi.org/ Join
16th annual meeting sc’MOI pronounced “C’est Moi” |
Enron, Nike, Disney articles on line at http://cbae.nmsu.edu/~dboje
|
| Submit Antenarrative and Theatric pieces to http://TamaraJournal.com |
What
is antenarrative?
“Antenarrative” is defined as “the fragmented, non-linear,
incoherent, collective, unplotted and pre-narrative speculation, a bet”
–Boje (2001: 1)
What is criitcal postmodern and the Antenarrative? see
map of the fields of postmodernisms and antenarrative
|
What is narrative?
o Narrative > Story - “For them to become a narrative, they
require a plot, that is, some way to bring them into a meaningful whole”
Czarniawska (1999: 2)
o Stories > Narrative - “I shall argue not all narratives are
stories; in particular, factual or descriptive accounts of events that
aspire at objectivity rather than emotional effect must not be treated
as stories” (Gabriel 2000: 5) MORE...
|
What is history of McDonaldland?
o 1971 McDonald’s Corporation commissions a Netherworld; it is
parody of Puf n' Stuf, and mimetic of Disneyland
o 1983 – Ronald
becomes more god-like in the images (see Buddah
Ronald)
o 1998-1999 – Producers
of The Simpson restyilize netherworld; Ronald performs miracles
in all 6 films
o 1999-2002 Old
Ronald is replaced by New Ronald in last 3 Klasky-Csupo films
|
Why
are Hamburglar, Ronald, & Grimace grotesque?
They constitue what Bkahtin (1968) calls their own chronotope (relativity
of time- space in the novel). This chronotope is the called Rogue-Clown-Fool.
Hamburglar = Rogue; Ronald = Clown Grimace = Fool Grotesque characters
exaggerate the body. Ronald has giant feet and the Whiteface of death;
Hambuglar is part bun-head and part boy. Grimace is part milkshake and
human. |
What is Culutre Jamming?
Aware of the corporate antenarrative to make Ronald & Golden Arches
represent the netherworld, A series of parodies of them appear McSupper;
toon
McSupper; UnHoly
McTrinity art exhibit; |
What is McDonald's strategy?
After the Supersize Me Movie & the trendy no-carb diets, McDonald's
dropped SuperSizes, gave away those step-O-Meters you saw in the film
with Go Active Happy Meals, put, Nutrition info on its traylines, and
lots more salads.
See McD's
Corporate Strategy
See our Antenarrative
analysis of McDoanld's Humor strategy |
Storytelling
Survival Manual (Boje, 2005 book excerpts)
Other itesm
Dr
Joh paper |
